Second inning is Oswalt's undoingAce struggles with control as Giants score 3

ZACHARY LEVINE, Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle |
April 6, 2010

Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt could not match the performance of reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.

Going up against a decidedly on-his-game Tim Lincecum, Roy Oswalt took two innings too long to find his comfort on the mound.

Oswalt survived a first inning in which he described himself as “a little bit pumped up,” but his motion really betrayed him in the second inning of his eighth consecutive opening-day start.

The first four San Francisco batters reached base via hit or walk in the second as the Giants took a 3-0 lead on the way to their 5-2 win.

“In the second inning, I got out of sync a little bit with my mechanics, but I fell back in after that,” Oswalt said. “I got going in the third, fourth and fifth and felt better mechanically.”

In total, Oswalt threw six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits (all singles) along with two walks while striking out three. Most of that damage was done in heavy concentration in a troublesome second inning.

Uncharacteristic start

The inning started out harmlessly enough with a ground ball from former Astro Aubrey Huff that found a hole in the right side of the infield, but then the real trouble started.

Oswalt, among the best strike throwers in the game even during his down year in 2009, walked Mark DeRosa, as part of an uncharac- teristic start in which he threw 19 balls in his first 40 pitches (48 percent) — his career ball rate is closer to 32 percent.

His mechanics then came back to him, as he threw 10 consecutive strikes at one point, but by that time it was too late. The three runs ended up being more than the Astros would score and equaled the final margin once closer Brian Wilson shut them down in the ninth.

Health not an issue

The main concern coming in was health for the 32-year-old Oswalt, and in that regard, the day went down as a success.

He received an injection in his back for pain management in muscles on the posterior after his final spring training start. When asked after the game if there was any issue with the pain, he responded with a terse “no.”

The righthander threw 86 pitches and could have gone longer had he not been removed for pinch-hitter Cory Sullivan with the 3-0 San Francisco lead still intact.

“He would have had to if we hadn't been down,” manager Brad Mills said. “We had to try to get some offense going as much as we could.”

That offense would prove elusive until an insufficient outpouring in the ninth, and on a night when Oswalt had no wiggle room, one inning of wiggling sent the Astros to a loss.